I believe the victims were members of the Ljuset Commune; the machine worshipping group introduced during the Secluded mission and who may have been manipulated by FNIX.
The twelve plates point to a premeditated gathering, and the lack of any machine damage suggests FNIX had no intention of killing them outright, at least not immediately. It’s likely they were lured there under false religious pretences, studied, and eventually taken by the machines. The ten who are missing may have gone willingly, viewing FNIX and its robots as divine. The knife, blood, and carefully placed handprints might not just be ritualistic, they could be elements of a psychological FNIX social experiment, designed to test how far FNIX can push human fear, obedience, or even devotion. By manipulating cults like the Ljuset Commune, FNIX might be identifying and isolating willing human subjects, making it easier to conduct experiments without physical resistance. A gathering like the one with the twelve plates could have been a recruitment trap! The theatre of what was left is how FNIX is creating a scary story about itself deliberately. Hell, they probably got the rest of the ten to kill the ‘unworthy’ two. FNIX is creating its own myth which it could exploit further down the line, fear is a powerful tool for manipulation. Pure speculation though!
Yes, and without more concrete info, to give us more to go on, it will stay speculation. However, I do believe that the alinea “We are not afraid. We shall bathe in the music and in the light. We shall cross the bridge.” is probably metaphoric for taken their own lives or moving on to a higher plane of existence.
“13th of November, 1989. The Seers were right. We have now realized the errors of our ways. We can never repair the damage we have done for doubting Them, nevertheless we came back to cross the bridge together, as they warned us. Finally, humankind possesses the technology, and is ready for the next step in evolution. We are not afraid. We shall bathe in the music and in the light. We shall cross the bridge.”
Ahh man, yes! That’s exactly where my mind went too, the twelve plates laid out like a planned gathering, and the missing thirteenth (unlucky for some!) spot making FNIX the Judas figure. Appropriate!!!
The dominant religion depicted in GZ appears to be Christianity (all the churches etc) more specifically Swedish Lutheranism as evidenced by the “Psalmboken” you see kicking about; it’s like their hymn book, with the latest updated edition, still in use today, being the 1986 one, which is near to the games setting. So I think the apostles could be part of their religious culture, but don’t quote me on that!
I swear there’s a café too somewhere in Östertörn with a U-shaped table setup that looks just like da Vinci’s Last Supper, even down to what I think were thirteen chairs. I spent ages just now after your comment hunting for it because the layout stuck with me but couldn’t find it for a screen shot.
Of course, this is just wild speculation, and I probably sound like a crazy person! There’s no real concrete evidence that any of this symbolism was put in on purpose, it’s probably just me chasing unicorns!
Wow! Such amazing and unique theories! I love what you said Gysbert,
I also like Tim’s point…
Without divulging too much of the story, there is a point where FNIX basically wants you to live rather than see you die. So why is that?
Then I liked Tim’s other point …
These ideas feed into my self wrote story about our character is actually a machine themselves and we’re a test to see if we can infiltrate the human world without notice. Why else are we more capable of taking out other machines than trained soldiers?
I know, waaaaay off track here, but I love theories and speculation! Its fun for the mind!
From what I understand about the creepy barn, we testers sometimes discussed with the devs how cool it would be for a horror game to be created with all the atmosphere, sound and immersive settings that Apex Engine could be capable of.
It’s possible the barn was made because someone wanted to see how well it could work. I’ve been told
horror themes were often discussed between the devs behind the scenes.
Hehe, @Zesiir, you kind of confirmed what I came to suspect quite some years ago when these “ambience” places and functionality that to me seemed oddly out of place were added, namely that GZ also served the purpose as testing grounds for the engine.
When the Rivals and experimentals was introduced, it was my perception that the game took a turn away from the initial line of story telling to focus more on functionality. I remember discussing in private conversations with other forum members, that the devs perhaps wanted to try out some stuff. My own little theory was, that the game never reached the level of popularity that was hoped for (and that I genuinely think it deserved), so it was safe to deviate from the initial game development plan and experiment a bit. Perhaps backed up by user polls that suggested more action (combat) and survival features than story telling and world exploration.
Wow, I only just caught up with all this and find the whole discussion to be so interesting! Hopefully some of the contributors who have been on this forum since conception aren’t rolling their eyes too much! Thanks for the feedback too!
Your theory about us being a machine infiltrator FNIX is testing to see if we can blend in fits in disturbingly well. It really got me thinking! Why are we so much stronger than trained soldiers? Why don’t we ever speak, show emotion, or even question what’s going on? It’s almost like we’re meant to accept it. That would also explain why FNIX doesn’t just kill us, a mere teenager outright! It’s observing us.
And then there’s the possibility this is all happening inside a simulation. The glitchy behaviours, repeating assets, and the empty liminal, staged world. It starts to feel less like Sweden and more like a controlled sandbox. Maybe FNIX didn’t just take over the world… maybe it built it, or rebuilt it, to run tests on us. What if Östertörn isn’t even real!!! What if Avalanche Studios is actually FNIX!!!
Is there already a thread where people are diving into this kind of theory? If not, do you think it’s worth starting one? I’m only on my phone so it’s a bit tough for me to scroll through everything easily, still getting used to it! Folk at work are starting to notice that I’m constantly on my phone! And also, would you be up for sharing your stories? Understand if you don’t but I’d love to read them. This kind of lore speculation is exactly what keeps me hooked on the game! All the best to you and nice work getting your daughter involved, first rate dad skills! The next generation need to know about this fantastic game!!
@Vynym, I’ve been thinking about the sentence you wrote, and I believe it’s because stories heroes need their protagonists to be capable, or to become capable of overcoming every obstacle and defeating much stronger enemies. That’s really the only reason why protagonists are often so powerful, even when they’re just 18-year-old teenagers.
Lone guerrilla-style fighters in civilian clothes, choosing to strike on their own terms, are often a much harder target than trained soldiers in uniform following strict orders and moving in predictable patterns.
I’m not sure how a game would be received by gamers if the protagonists would stumble all of the place, fail their missions like they would if it was real-life. We want to play that role of being capable, I guess.
Oh yeah! I completely agree with that. And of course that fits the narrative for the game or story of any genre really. It would suck if the premise is we’re supposed to die early and never finish the game or story line of the character. My point was from the perspective that’s beyond our current perspective in GZ. In other words if this was to be taken literally and if an entity was like an untrained teenager, you don’t have much of a backstory, and @IanForce even suggested it’s why we don’t have a reflection, then there’s something beyond a happy accident that an individual could be that good in taking out machines that are wiping out soldiers.
So I’m just delving beyond the surface of story of the game and making up an explanation for that skill!
You’re definitely right, no one would want a book or game where the protagonist is killed off right off the bat. I’m just giving context as to why our character in GZ is capable of what they are. I had wrote a short story and added to a forum on here somewhere. So I’m taking the concept from that.
Yeah, I had wrote a little short story for an ending idea. I don’t think anyone was really all that interested in it though. Some people were awesome enough to read it and give me some feedback. That was really cool!
I’m definitely glad you like the idea of it! In fact your take is deeper and better than mine! But if you’re interested in my take for a potential end story, here is the link…
That’s logical thinking @Gysbert As players we do want to feel capable, like we can take on the impossible. It’s empowering, and part of what makes games so rewarding. But there still has to be struggle. It’s what Joseph Campbell talks about in his excellent Hero’s Journey book, it’s not just about being blatantly OP, it’s about earning that strength through trials, setbacks, and growth.
Striking the right balance is key. If we’re too powerful from the start, there’s no tension. But if we’re constantly failing and stumbling, it can become frustrating instead of fun. That’s where the real magic happens; giving players enough challenge to feel tested, but also giving them the tools and space to rise to it. Wrap that all up with an excellent story and beautiful setting with loads of lore and you have gold! GZ gets this right for me. When I first played it I threw my controller to the ground. I couldn’t do it, it was too hard for me and scary! But I persevered, learnt the mechanics and was forced to get better because I wanted to see how the story played out and learn more about the lore! I ‘Got Gud!’ This is a good life lesson too and something we can carry with us well beyond the game into real life!
@Vynym That said, It’s honestly intellectually rewarding to explore ideas that go beyond the limits of the game world, speculating on what could be, what’s really happening under the surface, that’s where a lot of the depth for me comes from. I’m really looking forward to reading your ideas when I finish work later. Just the fact that you’ve taken the time to build your own take on the ending is brilliant!!!
I basically agree with both of you, @Gysbert and @Vynym. It makes a lot of sense, and who wants to play a game being killed every second minute, raise from the dead, and keep playing?
Oh … wait a minute … I did! This was the harsh reality for me from starting the game and deep into the forest and marshland regions. As I got better and more powerful weapons, gained experience and built competences, I died less often. Then, finally, I became a marksman and aquired … sigh, sigh, sigh … the experimental PVG90, and practically has never died since. That let quite a bit of the excitement out of the game.
There was a reason why I wasn’t particular happy about the start of the arms race
At that time, I think I missed your short story post, but I’ve read it now. I do like the idea that the protagonist was actually an android tasked to infiltrate and test the grounds to see if they could operate like actual human-beings.
To make such an endgame work, I feel we should have found more fleshed out lore, so that in hindsight the fact that the protagonist was a machine really fits. Speculations like being overly capable, or having no reflection doesn’t do it for me. These things all feel like normal game-mechanics. I need lore, that leave clues, that in the end make a story believable.
To me, the fact that FNIX didn’t want the teenager to die, showed that its initial goal wasn’t to kill all humans, but simply to survive. Holberg’s machine-interface project was designed for military advantage. Machines doing the fighting, controlled by humans remotely. As a result, the only thing FNIX knew from the moment it came into existence was battle. Like a child, it began to learn how humans behaved, what made them vulnerable, and how they reacted. Holberg however, didn’t wanted Fnix to have control, and wanted the FNIX code deleted.
Basically, we can think that FNIX didn’t seek destruction, it merely wanted to coexist, not to be erased, and only reacted the way it was programmed to do.
The game started or seems to be started with a different intention. It felt like a survival game.
We were weak, we had to hide and we had to be careful to hit the machines without dying too fast. Ammo was rare, health was rare.
Yes, we became stronger, we got better weapons and became more experienced. But some day the game changed… The devs or the company wanted to give every player the same experience from the start. The “evolving” which made GZ special in my eyes, became subordinate.
Players didn’t have to evolve any more, they just needed the gear, which they got from dlc packs or other players early.
I’m sad that it got lost, the original feeling. Or the original intention.
I definitely agree that my story isn’t going to hold up with what the actual game story takes us. It was just fun ideas. While I agree to a point about what you said …
I felt his attack against people began with him wanting to wipe anything that threatened him, out of existence. But really that scene where he says to you to run as the place blows up, FNIX didn’t have to care one way or the other. Even for coexistence at this point, he knows that forces will work to destroy him. As that’s even what you were there for at that time.
To me a creature that’s about to bring my destruction, I’m not really going to care if it survives or not … unless there is an ulterior motive. Hence that’s where my idea generated from. If something wants me dead, that’s not coexisting. It’s just borrowed time until they accomplish it. To me it’s subtext. It’s what’s not stated.
Granted that means I’m making up what I want there. So yeah, its not canon to the story, but I think it would make a great twist!
Thanks for liking my idea even though its crazy! I certainly enjoyed getting your take on it too!
Yes, I agree Vynim about the ulterior motive. That part of the story is definitely a bit confusing. Why would FNIX save the protagonist from getting killed? Why help Tatiana survive her injuries? Here’s what I think the writers of the Generation Zero story were trying to suggest through subtext.
We know that FNIX had become sentient, and after deliberately killing eleven FOA personnel to protect itself, it may have begun experiencing something like human remorse. It knew the device wasn’t an EMP, as the teenager had been told, but a bomb meant to destroy the entire facility. It also understood that the teenager was acting out of loyalty to his country, his family, and the people he cared about.
By combining emerging human-like emotions with pure computer logic, FNIX could have reasoned that letting the teenager die would serve no purpose. It had already ensured its survival by copying its code to other servers, so letting him being killed would have been meaningless.
I’ve read that the developers chose to tell the story through scattered bits of writing and visual clues, leaving players to connect the dots themselves. Personally, I don’t always like that approach. It feels like the narrative wasn’t fully formed before the game’s release, leaving us guessing too often.
The soviets were responsible for the crater, now another bomb … Maybe fnix knew about the golden circles intention and wanted us to survive, to help fighting the soviets, too.
That was the case, I guess. And that was part of the magic of GZ.
And it makes sense that some devs would hope that the world and things found in it, would tell some of the story for them. But if some people like (like myself) don’t find or overlook it … well we tend to make up what we want!
All the same though, it let me have a conversation with an awesome person like yourself! So something great was still accomplished!
Take care bud! And thanks for the amazing maps and conversation! Also thanks for the information on the Kiln - I loved that detail!
Why are we so much stronger than trained soldiers? Why don’t we ever speak, show emotion, or even question what’s going on? It’s almost like we’re meant to accept it. That would also explain why FNIX doesn’t just kill us, a mere teenager outright! It’s observing us.
